Nova Prime (Richard Rider) Appreciation 2019

[Steroid]

Who are the big writers that have readers that follow them on every book they write. I know Bendis was one. Who are the others?

As much as Al Ewing is great, he doesn't unfortunately seems to have a big following.

Aaron( bad fit but star power), Cates, Waid. Maybe a Hickman if we can dream.

[DragonsChi]

He beats her with 1 finger in the next page haha

True, I guess I should have said she had the potential for a good showing. The similar powers and Moonstone crazy nature could make for a few interesting stories.

Ain't that the truth.

Honestly though, I think we might maybe be better off with a creative team that isn't high end. Big names pull bigger page rates, which means the book has to sell more to remain profitable. And while a big name creator on Nova could definitely make some bank for Marvel, I fear that there might be too much out there for even a top-end talent to pull enough sales.

I mean, Marvel is full of cosmic books now. For the company that is supposed to be "the world outside your door" they've got more cosmic books than DC does, and have for a while. That's a chunk of competition for Nova to deal with that didn't exist back in the DnA days. I think that's what hurt the last series; it was well done and it showcased both Rich and Sam effectively but there were tons of other cosmic titles out there too, and I doubt that helped Nova very much.

So maybe the best choice is a solid creator fans know will do good work, but not someone so high in the rankings that they're at the top of the page rates. Ewing seems like the best example here (he really is the most under-rated writer at the Big 2 I think) but we can all think of several other creators who could fit. This way Nova doesn't have to pull as many sales to remain profitable but he's still in good hands. And when the writer does eventually leave, the drop-off in sales wont be as crippling.

I feel like, for Nova, what he really needs is a consistent creative team that can build the audience up over the long-term and carry a sustained effort, rather than a big name talent who will be on the book for six months before leaving. If Nova can reach consistent mid-level sales that way, he'll be in a pretty safe spot and prove he doesn't require one of the company's best assets to remain viable. He doesn't have to be Top 10, he just has to make a respectable profit month in and month out.

Of course, given how Marvel is these days what Rich really needs is a movie. Marvel doesnt like to push an IP that won't get any larger media attention. Even if movies don't really increase floppy sales, it seems Marvel wants synergy more than anything.

What other Cosmic book are there outside of GotG? Asgardians of the Galaxy...not sure if that is mostly focused on Asgard or Marvel Cosmic. But outside of those what else is there? Sorta been MIA on the new stuff recently.

[Ascended]

What other Cosmic book are there outside of GotG? Asgardians of the Galaxy...not sure if that is mostly focused on Asgard or Marvel Cosmic. But outside of those what else is there? Sorta been MIA on the new stuff recently.

Right this very moment? Im not sure. I fell behind with my comics and haven't been to my LCS since October; between work, the family, the holidays and a really involved semester I just haven't had time. So maybe right now there's not much to pick from; Cosmic Ghost Rider, Infinity Wars or whatever it's called, Thanos, GotG, Asgardians of the Galaxy......is Silver Surfer still being published? Were those Infinity Warp things a cosmic story? Some of those were mini's that're probably over now too but that's all just off the top of my head.

But not so long ago we also had solo titles for all the Guardians as well as the GotG title itself, and I forget what else. There's definitely been more cosmic stuff in the last few years than we had before Annihilation and the rise of the DnA cosmic Marvel. When Rich was at his height it was basically just his book and GotG, so there wasn't much competition or overlap within Marvel, and only the Lantern books from DC to contend with. And as much as we love Nova, it's not a big enough IP to handle heavy competition I think, especially with the GotG being one of the only properties to actually see a quantifiable increase in sales after their movie came out and getting a lot of effort from the publisher.

That's why I think Nova needs a film; it probably won't make much of a difference in sales (films almost never help floppy sales) but it will make Marvel focus on him more anyway.

[Digifiend]

What other Cosmic book are there outside of GotG? Asgardians of the Galaxy...not sure if that is mostly focused on Asgard or Marvel Cosmic. But outside of those what else is there? Sorta been MIA on the new stuff recently.

While the AOTG cast are from the Thor comics, they've been fighting Nebula, so yeah, it's cosmic.

[kevlon]

Does anyone know the latest with Robbie Rider? He was a Darkhawk but that's all I know.

[mugiwara]

Nova was in Black Order #3 this week.
This series has been very good so far.

spoilers:

The antagonist, Emperor Attican, has a weapon that turns the whole population of a planet into corrupted versions of themselves who obey him (no, it's not written by Claremont) Unfortunately, Rich was saving the day on a planet targetted by Attican and got turned into one of his minions. He will fight the Black Order in the next issue.

end of spoilers

[Steroid]

Big props to Black Order #3, can't wait for next issue

[kevlon]

Hope he puts on a good showing against the Black Order.

[Digifiend]

Does anyone know the latest with Robbie Rider? He was a Darkhawk but that's all I know.

He's still Talonar, leader of that group. Was seen just last week in Infinity Wars Infinity, so I would expect him to show up in either GOTG or Infinity Watch.

[The tall man]

So in Black Order Rich was referred to as a centurion, when did he get demoted and who is running the Nova Corps now? Also how powerful is he currently, I assume not as much as when he had the world mind and the whole nova force but I would think he's more powerful than the average centurion. And finally why isn't he leading the Nova Corps, with all the experience he has it would be a no brainer. Its weird seeing him taking orders when at one time he was the only Nova in the entire universe and held all the nova force and world mind by himself.

[DragonsChi]

I as well am very happy with the Black Order Book. Issue #3 was a very good read and I hope it keeps up.

So in Black Order Rich was referred to as a centurion, when did he get demoted and who is running the Nova Corps now? Also how powerful is he currently, I assume not as much as when he had the world mind and the whole nova force but I would think he's more powerful than the average centurion. And finally why isn't he leading the Nova Corps, with all the experience he has it would be a no brainer. Its weird seeing him taking orders when at one time he was the only Nova in the entire universe and held all the nova force and world mind by himself.

From what I can tell the whole Nova Corps made/started making a shift when Sam became Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy movie came out. I think whats going on with Rich is a combination of movie synergy past and whats to come. Along with not trying to place more importance on Rich or possibly Sam just encase a Nova is featured in the MCU some where or in it's own film.

But I'm not 100% on that just assuming on how everything is being treated thus far.

[Byakko]

Kinda funny to see the Black Order book only being discussed in here due to crossover with Rider heh. But yeah this issue was...oddly sweet look at Black Dwarf.

Also Rider's been juiced up by the warping ability of the Bow so it feels like it's a given he would win the fight, unless there's really bad side-effects that kick in mid-battle.


On the book's plot itself...
spoilers:

I feel 80% sure the 'traitor' is Ebony Maw, and that he struck a deal with Attican when he was separated from the team just after they were captured. Corvus and all the rest pretty much agree that Maw isn't very loyal and expected him to escape without them anyway. Attican prolly anticipated the rebels would eventually escape or lets them escape so that they track them back to their HQ with prolly some GPS thing on Maw. In exchange, I expect Maw wants his freedom and possibly hopes some of the other members get killed in the crossfire so that there's less loose-ends and they won't chase him down. Proxima confirmed that the brief time Corvus took over the Black Quadrant post-Secret Wars is in continuity, and and Corvus nearly killed Maw back when he tried to usurp him using Thane. I can imagine Maw bearing a grudge over that. Plus, if Black Dwarf and Swan do get together, Maw becomes the only unattached fifth wheel and it would be awkward anyway. I can see him taking the opportunity to exit.

end of spoilers

[kevlon]

So in Black Order Rich was referred to as a centurion, when did he get demoted and who is running the Nova Corps now? Also how powerful is he currently, I assume not as much as when he had the world mind and the whole nova force but I would think he's more powerful than the average centurion. And finally why isn't he leading the Nova Corps, with all the experience he has it would be a no brainer. Its weird seeing him taking orders when at one time he was the only Nova in the entire universe and held all the nova force and world mind by himself.

I don't think anyone knows how powerful Rich is at the moment, his powers seem to fluctuate. Obviously he can't be as powerful as when he had the whole Nova force in him but even that has now been thrown up in the air due to the ridiculous idea that the Nova force comes directly from the helmet, just like the black Nova's.

And yes it is odd that the only remaining core member (except Saal and the other guy) has been demoted to a mere soldier.

I wish order was restored and Rich was powered back up to Nova Prime levels.

[Anonymousmc]

I don't think anyone knows how powerful Rich is at the moment, his powers seem to fluctuate. Obviously he can't be as powerful as when he had the whole Nova force in him but even that has now been thrown up in the air due to the ridiculous idea that the Nova force comes directly from the helmet, just like the black Nova's.

And yes it is odd that the only remaining core member (except Saal and the other guy) has been demoted to a mere soldier.

I wish order was restored and Rich was powered back up to Nova Prime levels.

Imho I think the bigger question is: will Marvel ever address Worldmind being stuck in the Cancerverse? There are definitely some dangling plot threads from the last Nova series-that if resolved-would help to answer his power resevoir as well as his rank as Nova [Prime].

[kevlon]

Yeah we definitely need world mind answers. World mind is integral to the Nova lore.